Odd Situation
by Lynn Daye
Summary: A faily short story adapted from dream I had. Kitty finds herself in one of the oddest situations and facing an old foe. T to be safe.
1. An Old Foe

_Disclaimer: _I own nothing. This is a very short story that is based off a dream I had a while back. I might continue this but I don't know yet. Reviews always appreciated!

_Crash!_

Kitty coughed as the dust settled around her. She could feel it, a layer of grime all over her body. It was disgusting and unnerving.

Kitty reached a hand up to brush off her face…but couldn't.

She'd been mid-phase when the building had collapsed and was now stuck in the middle of some rubble. Kitty was stuck from her neck down to her feet in metal and other debris.

She started to panic, tugging at her arms to no avail when she saw a little bit of movement.

"Hey, like help me! I'm stuck!" She called to the stranger. The figure, she now saw was a man, turned to her. He lumbered over to her, making a fair effort to move his frame which rivaled a _John Deer _tractor.

The man raised his huge hands above his head and brought them down on the debris Kitty was stuck in. The main piece that held her cracked and released her. She fell to the ground with a thud and looked up to the man.

With minimal help from light that was filtering through the cracks, she saw that her rescuer was nearly seven feet tall and looked oddly familiar. His nose was large for his face and hooked slightly. Kitty gasped as the saw that the man was a carrot top and she instantly knew where she'd seen him before.

He'd been attacking Xavier's School, trying to kill his half-brother Charles Xavier.

Kitty's rescuer was Juggernaut.

- I know that in the comics Cain is Charles step-brother, but in Evolution they're half-brothers. I don't, however, know why they changed that aspect in Evolution.


	2. Escape

_Disclaimer and Such: _Yeah, I continued this story. It was just shouting at me for more! But, nonetheless,I still don't own any of the characters. Marvel still does.

Also, I didn't read through this as many times as I normally do so there's a good chance for a mistake. I apologize in advance.

The lines in between paragraphs indicate that I'm switching POV.

* * *

_**Odd Situation Chapter Two**_

The little girl gasped when she recognized me and recoiled a bit. "You!" She yelled, "You like, tried to kill me!"

"Kitty? Is that you? Where are you?" Another girl, her friend perhaps, answered in a Southern drawl. She was somewhere up and to my left. "Kitty?" she asked again, "I'm stuck, phase me out of here!"

The other girl, seemed unaware of my presence. I kept quiet and hoped I'd be able to explain everything to them soon. Maybe they'd listen…

Nope, the phaser, Kitty, broke my cover.

"Rogue, Juggernaut's here! Don't like, move!" Kitty's voice was young; she was maybe sixteen at the most. It was obvious she wasn't the team leader but was not being forced into that position. She sounded scared but was trying not to show it; putting on a brave face for her friend.

Instead of keeping quiet like they should've, Rogue started asking rapid fire questions. What surprised me was that another girl with a Scottish accent also joined in. They were interested in general knowledge, was anyone hurt, where I was, if I was going to kill them…

I'd just about enough of their meaningless chatter. If I'd wanted them dead, they'd be dead by now. Didn't they know that from our last encounter? I wasn't here to kill them, not today. Today I was here to try to turn over a new leaf, maybe make some thing out of this life.

Which would never happen if I couldn't convey that message to them.

I was about ready to tell them to shut up when one of them, the Scottish girl, called for a fourth girl, Jubilee, or something. No one responded.

"Jubilee? Jubes, come on, answer me!" Kitty shouted. Still no response.

I heard Kitty move from her spot and come closer to me. I remained standing and unmoving as she got within three feet of where I was. She stopped and stared up at me, our eye levels nearly two feet apart.

"Umm, Juggernaut, Mr. Marko, or like whoever, since you're not like, you know, pummeling us, could you maybe help us?" Kitty said, sounding extremely unsure of how to communicate with me. I couldn't say that I really blamed her.

She took my silence as a no and took a step back, saying in barley a whisper, "Please?"

* * *

Kitty tripped along to where her friend was stuck with a heavy heart. She knew she'd never be able to get out of here without Juggernaut's help. From his silence, she thought that was a long shot.

She reached Rogue in short order and started pulling on the twisted metal. Kitty tried to phase Rogue out of her trap but still couldn't. She momentarily wondered if Rogue's powers were also off when she felt the ground shake slightly.

Something, someone heavy, was moving towards the two of them. Juggernaut came to stand next to Kitty. His head was close to hitting the top of the rubble and he barley fit into the tight space where Rogue was stuck. Silently, he took hold of the metal encasement and easily untwisted it. Rogue fell several feet to the ground as a result with a small clatter.

Rogue sat on the ground, massaging her back, and said angrily, "You could've at least _attempted _to catch me."

Kitty gasped at Rogue's rude remark and hoped her friend wouldn't be turned into a pancake. She silently waited for Juggernaut's response, praying that somewhere he had a sense of humor.

"Sorry kid," he said with a chuckle, "But what're you complaining about? You're untangled." He extended a giant hand to Rogue. She looked at it, weighing the options, then took it.

"Thanks," she said without looking at him. "Rahne, where're you?"

The trio waited for a response that came from across the cave-like structure they were in. That was were the least amount of light was filtering in, actually there was no light. From where they were, they couldn't see the small girl at all.

"Rahne, like keep talking. We're trying to find you," Kitty said. She hoped that they could still find her, even in the pitch darkness.

The two girls started to stumble towards where they thought the voice had come from. Neither was positive where the Scottish girl was and even with Rahne shouting their names, they were having a great amount of difficulty finding her.

Kitty and Rogue had reached the darkest spot and were both staggering around. Easily hearing their shuffling, Juggernaut came up behind them and lightly but firmly grabbed each of their shoulders, bringing them to a complete stop.

"Hey, what…?" Rogue began but Juggernaut said, "I'm going to break a hole in the top of this, let a little light in. Stay here unless you want to be stuck under rubble again."

The two took his advice and stayed put. Juggernaut took about four paces backwards and reached up. He found the top of the rubble and punched it. Remnants of a filing cabinet flew off, allowing the sunlight to float in.

With the addition of light, Rogue and Kitty now saw that Juggernaut was not in his normal apparel. Instead of the reddish suit they'd become accustomed to, he was wearing jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a brown coat. He looked almost…normal. Well, save the fact that he could get into a fight with a semi-truck and win.

The two girls looked away when Juggernaut looked back at them, looking back to where they'd last heard Rahne. Giving their eyes a moment to adjust to the dusty haze, they soon found two familiar red pigtails sandwiched in some debris.

Rahne was trapped under part of a wall, pinned against something that looked like a safe. Kitty and Rogue each took one of her hands and pulled but she was firmly stuck. Kitty looked back at Juggernaut, trying to convey that they needed his help again.

Reading her expression Juggernaut came to stand next to the girls. He placed each of his mammoth hands on the wall on either side of Rahne. Juggernaut pushed it up with ease and let the other two girls help her out. When the three girls were clear, he dropped the wall back to its resting place atop the safe. It cracked and broke in half.

When he turned back around, Juggernaut saw that there was a distinct dividing line between the two sexes. The girls were huddled together a good ten feet from where he stood. They looked scared, but basically safe. A few bruises here and there, but they would be fine.

There was complete silence until Rogue asked, "Where's Jubilee?"

The Scottish girl said, "She was right beside me when the building collapsed… Jubilee! Where are you?"

Cain listened for any sort of movement but heard none. He looked around the rubble but saw no one. He turned his attention back to the girls who were staring at him, obviously in search of some guidance. Like he had any! Juggernaut wasn't _exactly _the hero type, like Kitty had said he'd tried to kill them last encounter.

But this was different. This wasn't about Charles; this was about four young girls who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And now he had to do something about that.

* * *

Rahne may have missed the team's last meeting with Juggernaut but even she knew it was crazy she was still alive. From the X-Men's stories, she should've been flattened as soon as he'd seen her. And yet she wasn't. She was actually feeling pretty okay, all things considered.

Well she had been until the collapsed building shook and threatened to seal them in forever. Every tiny piece of rubble quaked and shifted as something big, a bus maybe, drove by them. Her eyes widened and flew to Kitty and Rogue but they weren't looking at her, they were still staring at Juggernaut.

"We have to get out of here," he said simply in a deep voice. He walked toward them, covering the distance in a few steps and began to look for an easy exit.

"We like, can't!" Kitty exclaimed.

Juggernaut looked down to her, eyebrows arched slightly as the wreckage shook again. "Why not? If we stay any longer this will cave on us."

"We can't just leave Jubilee! She's our friend! X-Men have to stay together!"

Rogue took a step sideways and put an arm around Kitty in a comforting way. "She's right. Jubes is our friend; I refuse to leave until we find her."

"Same for me," Rahne said as boldly as possible. The three of them looked at Juggernaut in anticipation for his answer. They all knew the odds of him staying to help them were slim to none and yet they hoped.

Cain then sighed loudly and said, "I shoulda known that Charlie would teach you something like that. Okay, any ideas?"

* * *

Rogue did, in fact, have an idea. But it was a risky one that she knew Juggernaut wouldn't agree to. Then again, it might be worth a try.

"Well, I kinda had a little idea…" she said quietly trailing off. Rogue looked at her shoes as everyone turned to her.

Kitty was first to become impatient, "Like, what's your idea?"

Rogue looked up at Kitty and said almost silently, "Well, maybe I could borrow some of…," she stumbled over his codename, "Juggernaut's powers and help look for Jubilee."

Complete silence followed this statement. Kitty just stared at Rogue for a long while before looking up into the Juggernaut's face. She took a few scuffling steps toward the giant before saying, "What do you think? Will you lend some of you power to Rogue?"

All eyes flew to Cain's face for his reaction. His blue eyes were slightly wider than they'd been but they didn't appear angry, rather intrigued. Ever so slowly, he extended a massive hand towards Rogue. She looked up, brown eyes shocked that he'd even consider her proposal, let along _agree _to it.

"Just try to stay out of my mind okay kid?"

Rogue only nodded in reply, too shocked to speak. She lifted her pale hand and with the other removed the black glove that constantly encased it. Rogue flexed her fingers a little before barley touching the tips of Cain's thick fingers.

Her touch was like an electric shock to both of them as Rogue suddenly felt the power of the Juggernaut flowing through her veins. She felt invincible, unbeatable, unstoppable…

Rogue was lost with the power in her that she barley remembered to remove her hand from his. She quickly pulled her arm back to her, close to her body. Cain put a hand to his head and opened and closed his eyes several times. He seemed tired, but that shouldn't last long, Rogue thought.

"Thank you," Rogue said quietly as she went in search of Jubilee. She began using her new powers almost immediately, afraid they would wear off before she could do anything productive. Rogue moved huge filing cabinets with great ease, checking under everyone of them for Jubilee.

* * *

It only took Cain a moment to begin to do like Rogue was. The two of them were soon lifting large debris pieces as Kitty and Rahne looked on.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Rahne whispered to Kitty. Kitty shrugged her shoulders and stiffened as Juggernaut closed in on them. He stopped a good distance away from them so he wouldn't be too intimidating.

"You can go through walls and stuff, right?" Cain asked Kitty. She looked back at him before nodding then saying,

"Well I usually can but earlier I like, couldn't."

"Try again," he said, "Maybe you'll find her if you look that way. And you," he said turning on Rahne, "What can you do?"

Rahne stuttered for a moment, unable to find words, and then said, "Well, I can turn into a wolf."

Without missing a beat Cain said, "Can you find her by scent?"

"I can try." Rahne changed to her wolf form quickly and was immediately hit by smells. Two were familiar, Rogue and Kitty, but a third was completely new. Juggernaut didn't smell good or bad, just different. Rahne didn't dwell on his scent though; she couldn't waste any time.

She began searching for a scent as Kitty dove into a desk. Rogue and Juggernaut continued to lift debris. Rahne had almost lost hope when a vaguely familiar smell crossed her path. Tangy, citrusy and with a hint of pear, the scent was Jubilee!

Rahne barked loudly in the small space, the noise reverberating all around the chamber. The others moved to her side as she tore off through the debris. She could smell Jubilee's scent stronger now, she was getting closer.

"Jubilee!" Kitty called, "Jubilee we're coming!"

Rahne stopped dead in front of the same safe she'd been trapped on top of. She pointed towards it but changed back to human form to tell the others greater detail.

"Jubilee is somewhere behind the safe. Kitty, I think you should go first; we don't want the whole thing collapsing."

* * *

Kitty, the girl who'd hated him so much was now diving head first into the safe. Cain was amazed as she quickly disappeared into seemingly solid metal. He momentarily wondered how it felt; then remembered that she'd phased him into a solid piece of concrete on a dam. However he didn't have long to think about this as he heard something very solid hit the _inside _of the safe.

Pounding from two sets of fists began as Kitty said, "I'm stuck! Me and Jubilee are stuck! I can't phase!" Her voice was muffled even though Cain knew she was shouting.

Rouge quickly moved to the safe and grabbed hold of the handle. She pulled lightly, and then put a little more effort into it. She groaned a little as Juggernaut saw she was having absolutely no luck ripping the door off.

She turned, shocked, and asked, "Rahne, can you still transform?"

Cain looked to the tiny red head beside him and saw her face twist in frustration. She let out a long sigh and said, "No! Rogue…Rogue what's happening?"

The girls looked at each other in shock as Kitty and Jubilee continued to pound on the door. Juggernaut walked over the safe and literally single handedly pulled the door off. The metal bent under his massive hand, molding like putty between his fingers. He twisted the door until it was wide enough for the two girls to get out.

They all ran to each other, exclaiming names and hugging. Cain took a few steps backwards and watched them with amusement. He was shocked to find that he too had a smile on his face and was relieved to have Jubilee back safe.

The joy stopped suddenly as the debris shook the most violently and pieces fell out of their places. The four girls clung to each other and stared up at Cain silently.

"Come on!" he said loudly and sprinted over to the hole he'd created earlier. His hands flew out to two girls at a time as he pushed them through to safety. He finally put his hands on either side of the opening and pulled himself up. The rubble under his hands protested loudly under his immense weight and started to give.

Cain barely made it up and out as the debris started to collapse under him. "Go go go!" he said urgently to the girls in front of him.

* * *

Kitty was in the first group out with Rahne. Barley waiting for the other two girls and figuring Juggernaut could catch up, they raced down the pile of rubble. Police and firemen tried to get a hold of the girls but they all easily dodged them. Seeing the 6'10" Juggernaut barreling down behind them got the rest of the rescue squad out of the way.

To avoid any chance in an ambulance, the quintet ran down a side alley and hoped they hadn't been followed. Waiting quietly for a few minutes clinging to the alley walls reveled that they had lost any personnel trying to find them.

Finally, after five minutes and still with no sign of anyone, Kitty shuffled to be in front of the Juggernaut. She looked up at him with her chocolate eyes wide and mouth hung slightly open. Trying several times to say something and failing, Juggernaut asked what was wrong.

"Nothing," she replied, a smile exposing the cute dimples in her cheeks. "It's just that, it's so weird," she said with a sigh, "That the four of us like, owe you our lives."

* * *

_Author's Note: _Yep, if Chapter Three of this ever gets to be more than three sentences, it'll explain why Cain's powers worked while all of the girls didn't. Until then, keep writing [like I haven't] and keep on top of your homework [unlike me] because now I'm really behind and it's kicking my butt!


	3. Interlude

_Disclaimer and Such: _Though I'd love to say I own these charactors, Marvel does.

Sorry for the slow updating but this is probably as fast as it's going to get. College tends to put writing into Jell-O and make it slow. :/

Also, I know that this was originally put under _X-Men: Evolution _(mostly because my dream was only in that universe and was only the first chapter) but it's begining to drift into the Comicverse and pretty much all over the place. I'll try to keep the charectors in their _Evolution-_ness but the plot is becoming very _Astonishing X-Men_.I appologize if that irritates/dissapoints anyone.

Anyway, thanks to my reviews and alerters! It's awesome to know people like and read the things I post! :) Yay for feeling warm inside!

Now, onto the story!

* * *

**_Odd Situation Chapter Three_**

The strange group, made up of four teenage girl X-Men with one convict who had repeatedly tried to kill them in the past had begun making their way back to Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. They didn't have too far to go; the Tile Building was, or had been, in the center of Bayville. The Institute couldn't be more than two miles. A decent walk for the girls but barely a well needed stretch for Cain.

They'd already covered a mile and a half and, although it was getting dark, there was nothing for them to be concerned about. It was a Friday which meant no school the next morning so no assignments were due. Logan had moved their normfal Saturday morning training session to the afternoon over some conflict with Beast concerning an update to the Danger Room. And honestly, what could be lurking in the shadows that four X-Men and the Juggernaut couldn't handle?

For the first mile and a half, no one had spoken. But really, what did they have to talk about? "Remember that time you tried to kill me?" Somehow, that seemed a little awkward for everyone involved, even those who hadn't been part of the school when Cain attacked.

Finally, after almost an hour of silence, the Southern Rogue drawled, "so why'd you get your powers and we didn't?"

* * *

_On the top floor, the seventh, of the Tile Building, twenty minutes prior to collapse._

Cain Marko's eyes slowly opened to unfamiliar surroundings. He stood, well, was immobilized in a tank, in front of a small, sickly looking child who was flanked by a dark skinned woman.

"Juggernaut," the tan woman with an Indian accent asked as she waved a flashlight in front of his eyes. She wore a white lab coat that was embossed with the name _Dr. Rou _in black letters. Her hair was pulled up in a smooth bun and small square glasses were perched on her nose. She moved swiftly and confidently; she must be a doctor. "Can you hear me? We need you for an experiment. Behave, and you'll be free to leave. Understand?"

His body was still mostly paralyzed. He could open and close his eyes and open his mouth a sliver. Peeling his lips back from his square teeth, he whispered, "Yes."

"Excellent," came her reply. She clipped back behind a large computer in the corner and pressed down a button. The green translucent liquid that kept the Unstoppable Juggernaut effectively stopped slowly began to drain away. Down past his shoulders, to his waist, down his legs and finally to his feet, it all went down the drain.

As did his immobility. For the first time in almost a year, he twitched his fingers. Next, the muscles in his arms and chest were able to be flexed. Full motor control returned to his face and he opened and closed his mouth several times, reveling in the feeling. By the end of his second minute of consciousness, Cain could walk.

The woman doctor said that she needed to retrieve the rest of the "patients" and left, taking the sick boy with her. He looked terrified and verging on vomiting. Their departure left Cain to be the only one in the room. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he began to investigate his new surroundings.

This room was definitely not the same as the one he'd been kept in before. For one, it was above ground. Seven stories, to be specific. Two, it looked more like a laboratory than a chamber for a super villain criminal. Its walls were white, as was the floor. Everything was pristine. A stack of paper work and a box of hypodermic needles sat on the console of the lady doctor. The giant picture windows were the only things out of place. He looked out them, seeing the sky for the first time in a year. Cain didn't even notice the door open softly behind him; he was enjoying watching the cars on the streets too much to notice.

When the Tundra he'd been admiring was out of sight, Cain turned back around to find his civilian clothes laid out on a desk. Momentarily, he wondered how someone had gotten in and out so fast but pushed that thought aside. Perhaps his eardrums were still partially paralyzed.

He slipped into the clothes quickly, enjoying the soft fabric that wasn't coated in the fluid from the tank. Running a hand through his red hair, he saw small flakes of the dried solution fall like snow in front of his face. He was going to need a shower, soon as he was done with whatever this was.

Knocks issued from the door behind him. Not waiting for a response, the duo returned. Although this time they were accompanied with more mutants. These mutants sprouted deformities Cain couldn't even comprehend. None of them looked remotely human. For once, he felt content with only being abnormally large.

"Now," the woman doctor began. She led the small sick boy to the couch. "Everyone, this is Leech. Hopefully, you'll see why his name is fitting in just a moment." She turned on her heel and strode back to the console. Using a notebook she's just brought in, she typed a few numbers into the computer and looked up. "Alright Dorian, whenever you're ready."

All of the mutants in the room snapped their attention toward the boy, Cain included. He looked absolutely horrified to be sitting on a couch in the same room as the rest of them. After a minute of shaking, he drew a deep breath and shut his eyes. Groaning, he started to cry out. The lights began turning on and off. The extent of this obviously reached the streets below them; shouts and accidents could be heard clearly as the traffic lights sporadically changed colors or shut off.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cain saw the doctor slip a hypodermic needle out of the box. She darted around her desk when the lights were out. Thrusting the needle into the closest mutant, a girl whose skin resembled that of a lizards and who only had three fingers on each hand.

Pulling the plunger out, the doctor extracted the mutants purple blood and watched as it began to turn red. Looking back to the mutant, her scales were beginning to disappear. The green leathery coating shed away to normal pink skin. Her hands split so that each had five fingers. Her eyes, which had been a blood red, now became a light sea blue. The once reptilian girl looked down at herself, at her normal body. She began crying and hugging Dr. Rao who tried to calm her down as best she could.

When the girl was under control, she continued down the line to the rest of the mutants who now appeared to be normal people. They were all astounded, doing things they never could've before. Running, jumping, even smiling. They were all overjoyed.

Well, all except for Cain.

While everyone else was enjoying a glorious respite from their normally life altering mutations, Cain appeared the way he always did: big and bulky. He hadn't expected much else, and apparently neither had Dr. Rao.

"Your abilities come from something else, don't they?" She asked him, standing toe to toe with the Juggernaut, completely unafraid. She had no reason to be afraid. For right now, he was just another subject in a series of tests.

She walked circles around him, eyeing him like a prize winning steed. Dr. Rao didn't even turn when the boy, Leech, passed out on the couch behind them. The lights flickered back to life as did the mutants powers. Once again, they were sullen. Having tasted normalcy they wanted more. One brave member of the group, the reptilian girl, shuffled towards the doctor to ask,

"Tell me Kavita, when can I have this cure?"

_Cure?_

The word resonated inside Cain's brain. Cure for what? There was nothing wrong with her. True, her outer appearance wasn't as easy on the eyes as it could be…

Then it hit Cain, harder than anything that ever had before. Hard enough to knock the wind out of his lungs and drop him to the ground. He gasped, clutching his chest although he felt no pain there. This girl, all of these people, they'd come to see Dr. Kavita Rao to get rid of their mutations.

Permanently.

"Mr. Marko, are you alright?" The doctor asked him. She didn't have time for an answer, however, as the plate glass window behind her exploded. Gunshots followed, raising screams with them. A smoke bomb went off. They were blind to their attackers.

One by one, the mutants around Cain disappeared. He waved his hands in front of his face, trying desperately to see who was attacking them but it was useless. The smoke was too thick. By the time enough had cleared that he could see, he was the only one left. The attackers, whoever they were, had taken everything, even Dr. Rao's huge console computer. All that remained was a circular piece of paper.

Cain bent down and picked it up. Brushing some soot off the top, the image on the sheet jumped to life. Expertly painted on a green background was a yellow skull being held up by what appeared to be octopus tentacles. But the card would have to wait. Through the floors Cain could feel more explosions going off. He heard screams, screams he recognized.

Screams of his half brother's school children. Screams of mutants who might not be mutants for much longer.

The Tile Building dropped out of the sky. Several stray vials were all that remained of Dr. Rao's lab. Upon impact with the floor below, a few of them shattered, spilling a red liquid which caused the lights to go out as they had before with the boy Leech. Cain grabbed a handful and stored them in the inside pocket of his coat for, hopefully, safe keeping. He thought his half brother might like to see them.

But Xavier would have to wait. First, Cain needed to get himself, and his half brother's students, out of the collapsed building. The collapse had rather inconvenient timing. It wasn't everyday that the Juggernaut wanted to work with the X-Men to save mutant kind.

* * *

"No idea," Cain said, not meeting any of their eyes. "Why don't you ask Charlie," he said, nodding towards the iron wrought gate in front of them that stood guard to the mansion behind it, "He'd probably know. Apparently, he teaches these kinds of things at this school."


	4. A Welcome Home

_Disclaimer and Such: _Update! Yay! I, unfortunately, own nothing. All characters used are property of Marvel. Though if I did own them you can be sure the Juggernaut would be much more prevalent and on the side of the X-Men. :)

This story started because of a dream I had a few years ago when all I knew about was _X-Men: Evolution_. Since then, I've become much more of a Marvel fan and have incorporated a few ideas found in comicverse [the last chapter contains most of this]. If you don't read the comics, it's okay. The story should be looking much more like _Evo _now.

The lines between paragraphs indicate a switch in POV.

"_Telepathic conversation."_

_Thoughts._

* * *

_**Odd Situation Chapter Three **_

Professor Charles Xavier looked out across the black lawn of the Xavier Institute. It was nearly midnight; all of the students were asleep. The only resident still outside waiting with him was Logan, codenamed Wolverine. Charles wasn't forcing Logan to be there, he hadn't even _asked _him if he would stay. Logan had simply known that that was his place for the moment.

"Where are they, Chuck?" Logan asked in a husky Canadian voice. It shattered the quiet that had completely enveloped the two men, leaving behind it a tense, uncomfortable silence.

"They're close, Logan," the Professor responded. Another question had formed in Wolverine's mind but it was answered before it was spoken. "No, he isn't wearing his helmet."

"What?" Logan asked in disbelief, pulling the nose of his fierce looking uniform up. That movement freed his face, his dark eyes boring into the Professor for more answers.

A primal growl escaped Logan's lips as he thought, _"Then _what _is he doing with Kit, Jubilee, Rogue and Rahne?"_

Charles sighed to his feral friend and said, "Their thoughts are jumbled and confused. The only thing I know for sure is that they're all safe and in close proximity to my half-brother."

By the end of the sentence Logan had his nose in the air, sniffing deeply and quickly. He suddenly stopped, however, as his visual sense picked up where his nose left off.

"They're here."

The Professor still couldn't see anything; the moon was new, leaving his eyes sightless in the utter darkness. He trusted Logan's eyes, though. They had been made to be the best in the world and so far he had no reason to believe they weren't.

After a minute or two Charles could finally see, and even hear, them.

"The gate's shut and locked!" Rogue whispered urgently in her Southern twang. Her shadow was the one that was pulling at the gate. The petite shadow beside her must be Kitty, the smallest of the group. Two other dark spots stood close to those two, Rahne and Jubilee.

With surprising grace for its size, a huge black object lumbered to stand behind the four girls' dark shadows. Logan, too, had seen the shape and recognized who it was.

"Juggernaut," he said loud enough for the Professor to hear but softly enough so the new arrivals wouldn't.

Before Charles knew what was going on, he heard the metallic _snikt _of Logan's claws as they slid out of his right hand. With his left, he tugged the mask down into place before releasing those Adamantium claws as well.

"_Logan wait," _the Professor commanded him telepathically. A growl reverberated inside Charles's mind. _"He hasn't done anything wrong."_

"_Yet," _Logan interjected.

"_And we have no reason to believe that he will."_

"_Other than the fact that he's the _Juggernaut _and he's been known_ _to _kill _people!" _Logan's psyche yelled back.

Professor Xavier sighed and watched the scene unfold before him.

* * *

"Here, you're all going to have to grab hold of me and I'll just like, phase us through the gate," Kitty Pryde whispered in annoyance to her comrades. They'd been standing just outside of the grounds of the Xavier Institute, a locked wrought iron gate between them and the warmth of the common room.

The three girls exchanged looks with each other before looking warily at Cain Marko. Sure, Kitty's powers had proved to have evolved and grown; she was now able to phase multiple people and there had been rumors of her even phasing a jet once. Still, the Juggernaut was known to have a resistance to most mutant abilities and the other three girls weren't entirely sure if Kitty could do it.

Kitty saw their eyes drifting between her and the Unstoppable Juggernaut and took their glances as they were intended, doubtful. _I can do it, _Kitty told herself. She continued to repeat this mantra, similar to the way the Little Engine That Could had done, as everyone took hold of her.

Rogue's hand, sheathed in her black leather glove, as usual, slipped into Kitty's left hand. She squeezed her hand, a manner that Kitty was sure was supposed to be uplifting but it only made her more nervous that maybe she _couldn't _do it, as Jubilee, who had taken Rahne's hand, linked her left arm with Kitty's right. The final feeling of worry settled in her stomach as Cain's giant right hand found its place atop her shoulder.

"Ready?" Kitty asked. When everyone had given her an affirmative sign, she took one last breath and walked straight towards the gate. The weightless feeling of phasing overcame her body as she walked, only interrupted by the slight tickling sensation that she was going _through _something. She opened her coffee colored eyes and saw that they were no longer separated from the mansion by a fence.

"Kitty! You did it!" Rahne exclaimed beside Jubilee in a heavy Scottish accent.

"Shh!" Someone else hushed to the group. Kitty soon realized the voice to belong to Jubilee as she continued in a whisper, "Do you want to wake the whole mansion up or what?" Jubilee unlinked her arm from Kitty's, as everyone else unhitched from her as well, and they began sneaking across the grounds. Well, they were sneaking as well as they could, considering that one of their party members _was _the Unstoppable Juggernaut.

"Think the Professor knows we're coming?" Kitty whispered to the group after a short silence, filled only with the dew encrusted grass whispering against their shoes.

"_Yes, I do," _Charles Xavier's voice said inside their heads. Everyone stopped dead and they all, except Cain, gasped. Lights inside the mansion suddenly sparked to life, drowning the lawn in yellow light and exposing the fact that the Professor was not alone.

"Logan," Rogue said in a surprised tone with a hint of grumbling. Logan was like a father to her. Seeing the obvious disappointment is his face made her feel ashamed, but it also angered her. Who was he to tell her who she could and couldn't fraternize with?

"Professor," the other three girls addressed their Headmaster in unison, all with the same shocked tone.

"Charlie," Cain said, drawing the attention of the girls away from the other two men present. Even Logan turned his hard eyes away from Rogue to glare at the Juggernaut.

"Cain," Professor Xavier responded, "Welcome home."

* * *

_Author's Note: _I apologize for the excessively long wait for this update and thank all of you, my readers, for being so patient and giving me feedback! It's so great to know that people like and want to read more of my writing! Thank you so much!

With that said, I feel it's only fair to warn anyone who read any of my work that I'm one of the slowest and most sporadic updaters ever. Explanation: college. I'm in my third year at school and juggling fanfiction, classes, homework, clubs, friends and a job is rather difficult but I'm trying my best to stay on top of all of it. I don't promise any sort of timeframe for another chapter of this story other than I have a plot laid out for it and have a word document dedicated to it. :)

Reviews are always appreciated! Please, tell me what you think of incorporating some comicverse into last chapter and how that flows into this chapter!


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